Rabbi Frand on Parshas Ki Sisa
These divrei Torah were adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Tapes on the weekly portion: Tape # 320, The
Melacha of Dyeing.
Good Shabbos!
Answering The Call of "Who Is For G-d? Let Them Gather To Me"
This week's parsha contains the unfortunate sin of the Golden Calf. We are
taught about the famous incident when Moshe stood at the gate of the camp
and called for volunteers to punish the people involved in this grievous
sin: "Who is for G-d? Let them gather to me." The Torah testifies that "all
the children of Levi gathered by him." [Shmos 32:26]
Moshe instructed them based on the word of Hashem: "Let each man put on his
sword and go from one gate to the other in the camp. Let each one kill [all
those involved in the idolatry], even his own brother, close friend, or
relative" [Shmos 32:27].
This is the first of a series of times when the Tribe of Levi rose to the
occasion, putting aside their own personal considerations of family and
friends and heeding the call of G-d to punish the people who deserved
punishment. At the end of the Torah, Moshe recognized the Tribe of Levi's
actions saying, "He was the one who said of his father and mother, 'I do not
see them', not recognizing brother or child. They thus kept Your word and
safeguarded Your covenant. [Devorim 33:9]"
When Rav Shimon Schwab (1908-1995) was a young man, he spent a Shabbos with
Rabbi Yisrael Meir Kagan zt"l, the Chofetz Chaim (1838-1933). That Shabbos
left an indelible impression on the young Rav Schwab, who told many famous
stories regarding the events of that weekend. One of those stories
contained the following powerful ethical lesson.
The Chofetz Chaim asked Rav Schwab if he was a Kohen or a Levi. Rav Schwab
responded in the negative. The Chofetz Chaim (who was a Kohen) told his
young guest that it was a real pity that he did not have that status.
"Moshiach will soon come and the Kohanim and the Leviim will have a premiere
function in the Beis HaMikdash. The rest of the Jewish people will all be
excluded. It's a shame you are not from the Tribe of Levi. You will miss out
on all of these holy privileges."
The Chofetz Chaim then asked Rav Schwab a very strange question: "Why are
you not a Kohen?"
Rav Schwab gave the obvious answer. His father was not a Kohen.
But the Chofetz Chaim persisted, "Why wasn't your father a Kohen?"
By this time Rav Schwab grasped that the Chofetz Chaim was leading to a
concept that had nothing to do with Yichus [lineage] or genealogy. The
Chofetz Chaim asked, "Do you know why your father was NOT a Kohen and my
father WAS a Kohen? Because there was once a time in Jewish history when our
teacher Moshe called out 'Who is for G-d? Let them gather to me.' My great-
great grandfather answered the call and your great-great grandfather did not
answer the call. That is why my father was a Kohen and your father was not a
Kohen."
The Chofetz Chaim was not trying to tease, saying "Hah, hah! I am a Kohen
and you are not a Kohen". The Chofetz Chaim did not engage in teasing
behavior. The Chofetz Chaim was not trying to "rub in" the fact that Rav
Schwab's ancestor did not respond to Moshe's call. The point that the
Chofetz Chaim was driving home was that sometimes there are an occasions in
life where the clarion call goes out to rally around G-d's banner. If upon
hearing that call, one rises to the occasion, his actions can have
ramifications until the end of time. If one fails to heed the call and does
not respond, that too can affect not only the person, but also his children
and his grandchildren, for all generations. The point that the Chofetz Chaim
was trying to teach to Rav Schwab is that one day he himself might receive
such a call, perhaps not in the exact same words, but in a similar way. The
Chofetz Chaim was telling Rav Schwab to remember this lesson, so that he
would not repeat the mistake of his great-great grandfather -- with
potential ramifications until the end of time.
The Source of Moshe Rabbeinu's Beams of Glory
There is an interesting Medrash Tanchuma on this week's parsha. The Torah
says that when Moshe descended from Mt. Sinai, he was unaware that beams of
light ("karnei or") were shining forth from his face. The Medrash asks,
"On what basis did Moshe merit these unique beams of glory?" One opinion is
that Moshe received them when he was hidden in the cleft of the rock and the
Glory of G-d passed before him. The opinion of Rav and Shmuel in the Medrash
is different: When he was writing the original Sefer Torah which G-d
dictated, there was a little drop of ink left over. G-d took that ink and
rubbed it on Moshe's head. The beams of glory that shone forth from Moshe's
head were the result of that drop of ink.
In Parshas Be'Ha'aloscha, the Or HaChaim Hakadosh (1696-1743) asks a simple
question. Obviously, in human projects there are always surplus raw
materials. When ordering bricks for a building project, it is impossible to
plan the exact number of bricks that the project requires, down to the last
brick. Inevitably, there will be bricks remaining. But when G-d is preparing
to write a Sefer Torah and he 'orders the ink', he knows exactly how much
ink is necessary, down to the last drop. Why was ink left over?
The Or HaChaim explains the source of the 'extra' ink. In Parshas
Be'Ha'aloscha, when Moshe Rabbeinu wrote the pasuk [verse] where G-d
testified that Moshe was the most humble man who ever walked the face of the
earth, Moshe, in his utter humility, could not bring himself to write that
complete pasuk. Therefore, he left out a letter and wrote the word for
humble person (Anav) defective - without the Yud. He spelled it ayin-nun-
vov, rather than the way that it is normally written -- ayin-nun-yud-vov.
G-d used that 'leftover' ink to dab Moshe's forehead, resulting in the beams
of glory.
This insight brings two lessons to mind. First of all, this is a classic
example of the rabbinic teaching that one who flees from honor is pursued
by honor. In the worst way, Moshe did not want to write the accolade about
himself that he was the most humble of men. Because of this humility and
fleeing from honor, he was 'pursued' by having an even greater honor
overtake him.
The Shemen Tov points out another lesson, perhaps by way of homiletics. The
Shemen Tov says that we learn according to this Medrash that part of the
Torah was never written down. That Yud was supposed to appear in the Torah
but it was not written down. That is the lesson.
It important to realize that not everything in the Torah is written down.
Sometimes we tell someone "You should not do that". He immediately retorts
"Where does it say so? Where in the Torah does it say that this cannot be
done?" In reality, sometimes it does not need to say it. Sometimes the
essence of Torah and the essence of what a Jew is all about -- says it!
Sometimes it might not appear in Shulchan Aruch, it might not appear in the
Torah -- not because it is not true, but because not all of Torah is written
down. This is what we are taught through the missing Yud. This is what is
often referred to as the "fifth portion of the Shulchan Aruch" - the
unwritten Shulchan Aruch that applies to every Jew because he is a Torah
observing Jew.
This write-up was adapted from the hashkafa portion of Rabbi Yissocher
Frand's Commuter Chavrusah Torah Tape series on the weekly Torah portion.
The complete list of halachic topics covered in this series for Parshas Ki
Sisa are provided below:
Also Available: Mesorah / Artscroll has published a collection of Rabbi Frand's essays. The book is entitled:
and is available through your local Hebrew book store or from Project Genesis, 1-410-654-1799.
